Judge: Oberstown reports are ‘meaningless, unhelpful mush’

A district judge attacked the Oberstown youth detention and education centre in Dublin yesterday for incompetence and providing a report on a very troubled teenager which he dismissed as meaningless, unhelpful mush.

“I asked for an assessment to be carried out [of a very troubled 16-year-old] and when it came back to me I was somewhat bewildered by the information I got, partly because Oberstown had information they did not want to share with me,” Judge Con O’Leary said.

A team from ACTS, the Assessment Consultation Therapy Service, met with the accused and reported to Oberstown who in turn prepared a report for Judge O’Leary. But the judge said he wanted to see what those with experience in such cases had to say about the teenager so that he could make a decision in the case that would be of benefit to the community.

“Where is the assessment? It is absolutely staggering that this lead institution in the case should provide mush in its reports. It is meaningless and unhelpful and the people with the answers have not come here. I want answers from the people who have the answers,” he said.